E375 
.C291 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 






** >, 



0>*^ - 














y .•»-%, y*^> y.-™- - 




c5 °^ - 




^oV° 









-►* 



A C 









VV 






"W 1 



6* ^ 







> . « ♦ o 




• ■ ° A ^ * ' ' i$ <£• * ■ ° £° ^ ' ' 



> * o 











• 1 1 



a. 




















r oV u 







*<2* 




0° *- 







*<J> 












s 



li\ ADDRESS 



TO Till". 



CITIZENS of NORTH-CAROLINA, 



ON THE SUBJECT OF THE 

vetoes- 

The time is rapidly approaching when you will have to perform one of the 
most solemn duties of a free people. The election of a President of the United 
States, always a matter of deep concern, is swelled into more than ordinary im- 
portance, as well by the actual state of our own internal affairs as by our probable 
relations with the great powers of the world. The great republican party of the 
Union, always relying upon the virtue and intelligence of the people, have thus 
far triumphed over all opposition. By a wise and efficient policy, inspiring con- 
fidence at home and respect abroad, the federal party has been effectually pros- 
trated. But the fact cannot be disguised, that a new party has risen up, which 
threatens to produce the utmost distraction and confusion in the republican ranks, 
if not promptly arrested hi its progress, by the unequivocal disapprobation of the 
great body of the people. In other states the people have taken the alarm. In 
almost every state in the Union, their voice has been unequivocally expressed 
against the Radical candidate. In every contest, his friends have been defeated 
in their elections, when they were known to be such. Virginia, the place of his 
birth, and Georgia, the place of his residence, are the only states which adhere to 
him, with the exception of the state of Delaware, which, is noiv the only federal 
state in the Union. This fact conclusively demonstrates the sympathy which 
subsists between the old and the new opponents of the republican party. But the 
cltvtimi of a president derives an equal interest from the state of the world, and 
the part we may be called upon to act in its affairs. The brave and generous 
defenders of Spanish liberty h:ive been overwhelmed by the power of the French 
monarchy, instignted and sustained by the Holy Alliance ; and we see evident 
indications of a design to resubjugate, by the same power, the independent states of 
South America. How far this unholy crusade may be extended, or what part k 
may be necessary for this republic to take, in the great conflict between des| dt- 
ism and freedom, less than a year will probably determine. But it is a matter of 
the utmost importance, that, in selecting a man to preside over our affairs, We 
should inquire which of the candidates is best qualified to sustain the republican 
party against domestic opposition, and the cause of our country against the possi- 
ble machinations of foreign despots. In reference to these great objects, I pro- 
pose to discuss the relative pretensions of John C. Calhoun and William H. 
Crawford; as it is now apparent that, in this state, the contest will ultimately bo 
resolved into an issue between these two gentlemen. The proposed discussion 
will involve a comparative view of their past history and services, and an inquiry 
into the evidence, furnished by these, of the purity of their republican princq 
»nd their capacities for future usefulness. 



I pledge myself to state no fact, which is not either a matter of general con- 
cession and notoriety, or established hy the published speeches and reports of 
tlie gentlemen in question. 

It will be recollected that the friends of Mr. Crawford, at the opening of the 
presidential canvass, believing that he and Mr. Adams had obtained the exclu- 
sive possession of the field, by a sort of prescriptive right, commenced their 
operations by holding up Mr. Crawford as the uniform and exclusive republican 
candidate. Either not looking into his true character, or supposing that time 
had ihrownthe mantle of oblivion over his political frailties, they confidently ex- 
pected to prostrate Mr. Adams, by making him responsible not only for his own 
aberrations, but for the sins of his father. The ceaseless clamour kept up by all 
the organs that could be brought into requisition, about Mr. Crawford's uniform 
republicanism, very naturally excited a suspicion that it was designed to cover 
some Intent and conscious frailty in the party making it. The inquiry was made, 
and the suspicion realized. Mr. Crawford's own handwriting, rose up in judgment 
against him; and he stood convicted of having drafted and sanctioned an Ad- 
dress to President Adams, amidst the excitement produced by the most violent 
measures of his administration, expressing "the most unlimited confidence in 
the firmness, justice, and wisdom of that administration.' 1 '' After various disin- 
genuous artifices, (some of them evidently made with the advice, knowledge, and 
approbation of Mr. Crawford," ) tending to throw a suspicion upon the genuine- 
ness of the Address, the author of the "Four Letters" which appeared in the 
Richmond Enquirer, pleads guilty, and attempts to extenuate the offence. He 
attempts to resist the. direct and conclusive evidence of a record, by ex parte cer- 
tificates of general character, referring to the political opinions entertained by an 
obscure man a quarter of a century ago ! But, not to dispute about words, what 
sort of a Republican was that, in July, 1708, who had the most " unlimited conji* 
dence.^xn the " wisdom and ^justice" of the alien and sedition larvs? It has 
been shown, from an Augusta paper of that day, that intelligence of those mea- 
sures reached Mr. Crawford, previous to the date of his Address. But the au- 
thor of the "Four Letters" contends that the confidence expressed in the Address 
had reference only to the measures of preparation for a war against the French 
Republic. Considering this writer's eminent powers at definition, ( by which he 
clearly shows that one tnan cannot be an intriguer,) one cannot but be surprised 
at his notion of " unlimited confidence in an administration." According to his 
reading, it means confidence in a single measure only of that administration ! ! 
But even if this sophistry could be passed current for argument, it would r be una- 
vailing. It is notorious that the military preparations against the French Repub- 
lic, contending, as she was, against a confederation of despots, contributed, as 
much as any other measure, to piostrate the federal party. 

But the Augusta Address is only the first link in the chain of Mr. Crawford's 
title to federalism. The public journals and documents, which cannot be sup- 
pressed, furnish a climax of proofs to substantiate it. These, too, w ill probably be 
resisted by certificates and definitions. 

One of the first acts of Mr. Crawford's political life, after his election to the 
Senate of the United States, was his vote against the embargo ; a measure re-- 
commended by Mr. Jefferson, to save our immense mercantile capital from the 
desolating sweep of the French decrees and British orders in council. The 
support of the administration in that measure, was then the touchstone of re- 
publicanism. This is apparent from the fact that Mr. Crawford voted in a small 
minority, all violent federalists, with Mr. Pickering at their head. Such is the 
company by which the good old proverb requires us to judge of Mr. Crawford': 
principles, in 1807. What explanation do his friends give of this matter? One 
says, i' proves that Mr. Crawford, (and of course Mr. Pickering,) had more sa- 
gacity than Mr. Jefferson and the whole republican party; another asserts, and 
. proves it by Mr. Crawford's speech, that he opposed the repeal of the embargo 

* Di. Abbot's Letter 



5 



in 18(19, when Mir. Jefferson and the party had determined to abandon it, and 
prepare for more decisive measures. 

Now those who condemn tit' 1 embargo, as a permanent measure and a substi- 
tute for war, must admit that it was wise and necessary, when viewed as a tempo- 
rary measure, and preparatory I'm war. Of course it was expedient in its incep- 
tion when Mr. Crawford voted against it, and unwise in its continuance when Mr. 
Crawford voted for it. What a tissue of disastrous contradictions! Always 
changing, always wrong, and always agafoit the administration ! But I hasten 
to another link in the chain. Before the close of Mr. Jefferson's administration, 
and after Mr. Randolph had seceded from the republican party, it is notorious 
that Mr. Crawford attached himself to a junto headed by Mr. Randolph — a jun- 
to remarkable for puffing each other, and finding fault with the administration, 
At that time, if common: fame speaks true, Mr. Randolph said Mr. Crawford 
ought to be President of the United States ; a fact which serves the double pur- 
pose of showing the concurrence of their views, and the cnngeniality of their 
principles; and of explaining why Mr. Crawford was more cautious and guard- 
ed in his hostility than Mr. Randolph. 

In the spirit of this hostile feeling towards the republican administration, we 
next find Mr. Crawford delivering a most pointed and personal phillippie against 
Mr. Madison. The occasion of this phillipic was Mr. Madison's message, de- 
tailing the injuries inflicted on us by the edicts of Great Britain, and recom- 
mending Congress to place tin' country in an "armour and attitude" suitable to 
the emergency. Mr. Crawford sneeringly characterised this message is having 
all the ambiguity of a response from the Delphic Oracle; and solemnly admo- 
nished the Senate against preparation for war, contending that the embargo 
ought to have been adhered to! At a later period, when the war became obvi- 
ously inevitable, Mr. Crawford opposed the creation of a navy, pronouncing it 
•' worse than ridiculous to think of defending our commerce by a navy," ..hen 
every politician of sagacity must have been sensible of the folly and impotence 
of a declaration of war against Great Britain, without a navy to sustain it. — 
When the question of war itself came directly before Congress, though Mr. 
Crawford finally voted for the measure, he gave it a cold, inefficient, and equivo- 
cal support, during the long and dubious contest in the Senate. At one period 
it was ascertained that there was a majority of two, in that body, opposed to the 
war, and to the very last the event was dc*ibtflll ; yet Mr. Crawford never raised 
his voice in support of it. Soon after thjfferar was declared, he took refuge from 
responsibility and danger in a foreign court, and there remained in undistinguish- 
ed and unprofitable security, until the storm had subsided. 

But although lie shrunk from the responsibility of sustaining the war, we find 
him, soon after the return of peace, ambitiously aspiring, by the most censurable 
means, to that high office which a grateful people had almost unanimous)]/ de- 
signated as the reward of the long services and lecent self-devotion of Mr. Mon- 
roe. As I view the attempt made in 181G, to force Mr. Crawford into the presi- 
dential chair, by means of a Congiessional caucus, to beone oi the most alarm- 
ing efforts at dictation which has occurred since the contest between Jefferson 
and Burr, I invite your serious attention to a brief narrative of the prominent 
facts relating to it. 

I confidently appeal to you. and to the peapk of every other republican state 
in the Union, not excepting Georgia, to bear me out in the assertion, that the 
voice of the republican party was as decidedly and unequivocally in favor of 
Mr. Monroe in 1810, as it was in favor of .Mr. Jefferson in 1301. Mr. Crawford 
was not even thought of as a candidate, and his nomination would ban- over- 
whelmed them with the surprise and astonishment of a revelation. With a per- 
fect knowledge of the wishes of the people to the contrary, Mr. Crawford made 
this desperate effort to usurp the government.: and it is worth remarking, how 
precisely he followed) the usual artifices of usurpers. Under some pretext, not 
now recollected, Dr. Bibb, a friend of Mr. Crawford, wrote a Idler, wind 



4 

Mas published, stating, that Mr. Crawford ' did not wish to be Considered one 
of those from whom a choice was to be made.' Upon the very face of it 
this declaration is a modest invitation to his friends to persevere. But, taken 
with the associated circumstances, we cannot resist the inference, that there was 
a perfect understanding on the subject, and that this declaration was designed 
to promote the projected nomination. It was almost literally Ctesar putting 
aside the crown, that it might be the more strenuously urged upon him. Imme- 
diately after the publication of Dr. Bibb's letter, Mr. Crawford's organ, the 
Washington City- Gazette, declared that it was authorized to state, that nothing 
in that letter was intended to convey the idea that Mr. Crawford would not per- 
mit his name to be used, but that he would yield to the determination of his 
friends. From this time till the meeting of the caucus, every possible effort was 
used by the partizans of Mr. Crawford to effect his nomination. The Washing- 
ton City G-izette teemed with incessant denunciations of Mr. Monroe, Mr. Jeffer- 
son, Mr. Madison, and the Virginia dynasty ; and the same topics were urged by 
Mr. Crawford's congressional friends in the messes and in private circles. It was 
also urged that he would vacate all offices, and Jill them ivithhis supporters, thus 
attempting to purchase the government with its own patronage! During all these 
desperate efforts, neither Mr. Crawford nor any of his friends ever contradicted 
the above declaration of the Gazette, and it was perfectly understood by those 
who mingled in the scene, that he stimulated his friends, at least until he found 
his game desperate. To illustrate this dark transaction, I shall make a few 
quotations from some remarks made by the editors of the National Intelligencer, 
in the paper t)f the 8th April. 1316. As these gentlemen are now the friends of 
Mr. Crawford, it is presumed their authority will not be questioned : 

" Gun astonishment increases, by retrospection, at the formidable number of 
the republican meeting opposed to the nomination of Mr. Monroe. We consult 
our inclination, and probably the interests of the great republican family, in avoid- 
ing an examination of the ctfciurtstancts, a combination of which had nearly 
produced a nomination in direct opposition to the public will." — " It is a fact un- 
disputed, we believe, that the activity and preconcert of the opponents of Mr. 
Monroe, and a fastidious delicacy of his best friends, which prevented active ex- 
ertions in support of his nomination, produced a state of things astonishing to 
most of the good people of the United States, who expected nothing less than 
that division of sentiment which prevailed among their representatives. Thede- 
cided friends of Mr. Monroe were so barfcward in their exertions, that at one time 
their opponents, mistaking silent conviction for apathy, looked forward to cer- 
tain victory. On their part, however, nb exertions were spared. As no labor was 
too great, so no means were too humble to aid their object : witness the use made 
of ihe columns of an ephemeral print in this city, to soil the character and lacerate 
the feelings of their opponents." " It has been said that the meeting was got up 
by Mr. Monroe's friends, under circumstances peculiarly favorable to their views. 
This is not true. On the con rary, it was his opponents, flushed with sanguine 
hopes of success — the result of consultations previously held— it was they who 
urged the meeting — it was they who convoked it." " It is well known here that, 
had all the republicans attended, his [Mr. Monroe's] majority would have been 
more than doubled." 

Such is the character of this transaction, and yet it is to his conduct in relation 
to it, that Mr. Crawford's friends appeal for proof of his unaspiring modesty. 
They assert that he could have been nominated, but prevented it himself. I do 
not know which more clearly indicates the dangerous politician, the attempt to 
usurp the government by unprincipled combinations, and direct appeals to the 
fears of incumbents, and the venality of expectants, and " in direct opposition to 
the public will," or the artful disguise and hypocritical duplicity with which the 
operations were conducted on the part of Mr. Crawford. When week after week 
his confidential partizans, holding daily consultations with him, continued to use 
all the " activity and preconcert" of men sustained and animated by a master 
spirit; when they undertook to promise that he would reward his supporters by 



s 

expelling all officers unfriendly to his flection ; when thry urged and convoked 
the meetmg,">can any man, at ill versed in human affairs, believe that Mr. Craw- 
ford was tlie unwilling instrument of all ihis distracting agitation in the republi- 
can party? Can it be believed, that a man of whom the people had not dream- 
ed as a candidate for the presidency, and whose principal recommendation was 
that want of fixed principles which qualified him to be the instrument of a dis- 
contented and restless cabal ? — can it be believed, that such a man w;is sustained 
upon such principles, and bj such partisans, without his approbation and concur- 
rence? I pronounce it impassible. Thus we find that the uniform and consist- 
ent republican, who sets himself up as the exclusive disciple of the Jefferson school 
in 1 8SS, attempted, in 1816, to raise himself to the presidency, by denouncing Mr. 
Jefferson and all his successors. 

But, to complete the climax of proofs, which establish the heterodoxy of Mi 
Crawl nd's political principles, I invite your attention to a few brief remarks upon 
his conduct as a member of Mr. Monroe's cabinet. It will be seen that the mag- 
nanimity and delicacy which prevented Mr. Monroe from dismissing a political 
opponent, has been rewarded by faithlessness and duplicity; and that, instead of 
sustaining the administration, as he wis bound to do, by every principle that binds 
men together in relations of confidence, he has secretly fostered and reared up, 
with a view to his own aggrandizement, a party as rancorously opposed to tin 
administration of Mr. Monroe, as the federal party ever was to the administration 
of Mr. Jefferson or Mr. Madison. During the early stages of the operations of 
this party, when its leaders were sanguine of success, neither their hostility of 
the administration, nor their connexion with Mr. Crawford, was disguised. They 
openly assumed the badge of their association, took pride in the name of Radical, 
falsely accused the most economical administration we nave ever had, of ruinous 
extravagance, and held up Mr. Crawford as the great reformer of abuses. But. 
when the people of the United States, too enlightened to mistake the hypocritical 
oant of noisy partisans for evidences of disinterested patriotism, " frowned in- 
dignantly" upon this second attempt to elevate Mr. Crawford to the presidential 
chair, by means of the distraction of the republican party, that gentleman, with 
his accustomed dexterity, attempts to disclaim all connexion with the radical 
party. Vain attempt ! If that connexion constituted treason, it could be esta 
blished before any court, by the strictest rules of judicial investigation. The evi- 
dence has gone abroad, and all the "multitudinous waves" of the ocean would 
not wash from Mr. Crawford's hands ihe stain of " Radicalism." I will state w 
few incontrovertible facts. Every radical in the United States is the active par 
tizan of Mr. Crawford. There is no known exception. The radicals in CAn- 
gress, as a party, have invariably supported him. They organized themselves, 
and appointed speakers. A respectable member of Congress was invited by one 
of Mr. Crawford's friends to join them ;and it was stated, as an inducement, that 
there was a party organized against the administration; that the administration 
was not popular, and must go down. Mr. Gilmer, of Georgia, the personal and 
political friend of Mr. Crawford, in the course of a violent attack upon the ad- 
ministration, said, it would ruin the country, and that he wished to see the line 
drawn, and parties designated. This declaration furnishes the stronger evidence, 
when it is considered that Mr. Gilmer, though a man of mistaken views and vio- 
lent prejudices, is highly honorable and candid. Charged with the views and 
feelings of Mr. Crawford, he was too honest to conceal them. Dr. Floyd, of 
Virginia, a gentleman of the same character, declared, during the same debate, 
that he regretted that the period was so remote, that would terminate the adminis- 
tration of Mr. Monroe! The speeches of these two gentlemen, and the rcpli< - 
they elicited, were never published, doubtless for reasons satisfactory to the e li- 
tors of the Intelligencer. If the discussion had taken' place before the collected 
body of the American people, a single doubt would not now exist, either as to the 
existence, the principles, or the ultimate object of the Radical party. 

Thus have we traced Mr. Crawford through all the windings and sihuositiej 



6 

an ambitious aspirant, recognizing no principle of action bnt self-aggrandize- 
ment; never false to himself, and seldom true to his party; alternately profamn* 
the name of Jefferson, by assailing and assuming it; but in every instance sacri- 
ficing the peace and harmony, the wishes and principles, of the republican party 
to his own ambitious projects. Let us inquire for a moment, what services he has 
rendered, either to his party, or to his country, to counterbalance these manifold 
aberrations? In what single instance has he triumphantly withstood the shock of 
the many assaults made by the federal party? In what crisis of our political 
conflict has he evinced either a disinterested devotion to the principles and mea- 
sures of the republican party, or displayed more than ordinary talents in their vin- 
dication ? These questions have been reiterated again and again, and his friends 
have answered them by referring to latent capacities and dispositions, the sudden 
development of which is to astonish the country ; and which, like his celebrated 
Address to Mr. Adams, will be "the more agreeable, because unexpected." 

Citizens of North-Carolina ! will you support him as an uniform republican, 
who has been more uniformly against us than with us? Will vou support him 
as a statesman, who has not erected a single monument to Ins wisdom ? Will vou 
support him as a patriot, who has never evinced his devotion to his country, but 
Tvho fled from responsibility during the most tning crisis in the history of the 
republican party, or of our common country ? I am sure you will not : and it is 
with great pleasure I now present, for your consideration, the claims of a states- 
man, whose unexceptionable character, indisputable talents, and varied and dis- 
tinguished services, will exhibit a striking contrast with the corresponding defi- 
ciencies of the one whose claims I have been considering. I need scarcely tell 
you, that such are the characteristics of John C. Calhoun. From his earliest 
youthful conceptions, on political subjects, up to the present period, he has been 
a uniform and undeviating republican. From a mother of Roman virtues, who 
had been often compelled to desert her home by the ravages of the tories, he im- 
bibed those noble sentiments of national devotion, which gave such a charm to 
his parliamentary eloquence ; and from a father of sound and discriminating 
judgment, who served in the legislature of South-Carolina during the whole pe- 
riod of the revolution, and after its termination, till his death, he imbibed those 
early republican impressions which have " grown with his growth, and strength- 
ened with his strength." Having literally devoured most of the ancient historians 
at an extremely early age, and before he commenced his grammar-school studies, 
the impressions made by these parental lessons were swelled into an enthusiastic 
admiration of the great models of republican antiquity. Thus deeplv grounded 
in his attachment to republican principles, we find him maintaining them under 
circumstances well calculated to illustrate juvenile ardor and youthful firmness. 
After the death of his father, he was placed at the academy, and under the super- 
intending care of his brother-in-law, the celebrated Dr. Waddel : a gentleman 
at that time not less decided in his federal principles, than he was distinguished 
for the graces of religion and the accomplishments of a scholar. As this was at 
a time not very remote from the date of the Augusta Address, drawn up by ano- 
ther of the Doctor's pupils, politics was the subject of free conversation and dis- 
cussion ; and as John C. Calhoun discovered a very strong taste and inclination 
for political disquisitions, his brother-in-law, very naturally, endeavored to re- 
claim him from what he conceived to be his juvenile errors. When I assert that 
the pupil openly avowed, and firmly maintained, his republic. in principles, 
against both the arguments and authority of his guardian and preceptor, I confi- 
dently appeal to that preceptor, and to the surviving associates of the pupil, for a 
confirmation of the assertion. 

From the Academy of Dr. Waddel, John C. Calhoun was transferred to Yale 
College, in Connecticut. Here again he was destined to encounter his preceptor, 
the celebrated Dr. Dwight, in the field of political discussion. In the course of 
a recitation, the Doctor expressed a doubt whether the republican system was 
really better calculated to promote the happiness of the people than a limited 



monarchy. Tins gave rise to a warm and animated debate between the D"- 
and Mr. Calhoun, in which the hitter evinced such depth of thought and power 
of argument, that the former predicted his future rise to the highest honors of the 
Republic. At the period of which I am speaking, the name of Republican was 
so odious in Vale College, as to be considered almost an insuperable ob- 
stacle to the, attainment of the honours of the institution. Yet Mr. Calhoun, 
with a few faithful associates, (who now live to testify to the truth of what I aiu 
saying,) boldly and fearlessly maintained the cause of republicanism, amidst the 
proscribing intolerance of prejudices, which almost excluded them from society. 
Such were the trials, and such the unshaken republicanism of Mr. Calhoun, at a 
period of life earlier than that at which we find Mr. Crawford yielding to the pro- 
vailing current of federalism, and expressing " the f most unlimited confidence" 
in the administration of John Adams. Soon after Mr. Calhoun commenced- the 
practice of law, he was elected to the Legislature of South-Carolina, where heat 
once exhibited a maturity of thought beyond his years. His elevation of charac- 
ter commanded confidence, and his power of argument seldom ("tiled to produce 
conviction. Among the measures brought before the Legislature during the 
term of his service, was a proposition to remove the existing restriction upon rhe 
right of popular suffrage and make it general, with a qualification of residence 
only. Mr. Calhoun ably and successfully sustained the proposition: contend- 
ing that where a large mass of citizens is excluded from all power in the state, 
they will ultimately become discontented, and either overthrow the government 
or drive it to the adoption of tyrannical measures for its preservation. 

Such was the republicanism of Mr. Calhoun in 1308, and by a singular coin- 
cidence of time, making the contrast of principle more striking, Mr. Crawford, 
the very same year, hi the Senate of the United States, voted for restricting the 
right oi' suffrage in the .Mississippi Territory, according to the aristocratical no- 
tions of Virginia. 

After Mr. Calhoun had served two years in the Legislature of South-Carolina, 
the interesting and portentous character of our foreign relations induced him to 
abandon a lucrative profession ; and, in obedience to the almost unanimous call 
of his constituents, he took his seat in Congress at the session usually denominated 
the war-session. 

During every stage of the discussions which preceded the declaration of war 
against Great Britain, and during every stage and every vicissitude of that event- 
ful and trying contest, Mr. Calhoun took a leading and distinguished part in the 
debates of Congress. As ctmiunau of the Committee of Foreign Relations, it 
became, his peculiar duty to devise and sustain the various measures necessary 
for the prosecution of the contest. A perusal of his various speeches will result 
in convincing every impartial reader that, for Roman energy, lofty patriotism, 
profound political sagacity, and masculine eloquence, Mr. Calhoun has no su- 
perior in the present day. I have deliberately weighed every phrase of this eulo- 
gi> in, and I feel perfectly assured that it will be confirmed by the judgment of 
posterity. I invite your attention to a brief review of some of his speeches, for u 
confirmation of the opinion I have expressed. And though disconnected quota- 
tions can give but a feeble notion of the impression made by the connected argu- 
ment, yet enough will be presented to communicate the spirit of the orator, and to 
justify the following complimentary remarks and predictions of Mr. Ritchie, con- 
tained in the Richmond Enquher, of December 24, 1811 : — After characterising 
Mr. Randolph as " the snarling and petulant critic, who raves and bites at every 
thing around him ; oblique in his positions; extravagant in his facts; floundering 
and blundering in his conclusions," he thus proceeds with the contrast: M Mr. Cal- 
houn is clear and precise in his reasoning, marching directly to the object of his 
attack, and felling down the errors of his opponent with the club of Hercules; 
not eloquent in his tropes and figures, but, like Fox, in the moral elevation of his 
sentiments; free from personalities, yet full of those fine touches of indignation, 
which are the severest cut to a man of feeling. His speech, like a fine drawing, 



tbounds in those lights and shades which set off eacii other : the cause of his conn* 
rrv is robed in light, while her opponents are wrapped in darkness. It were a 
contracted wish that Mr. Calhoun were a Virginian; though, after the quota 
which she has furnished, with opposition talents, such a wish might be forgiven 
us. Yet we beg leave to participate, as Americans and friends of our country, in 
rhe honors of South-Carolina. We hail this young Carolinian, a$ one of the 
master spirits that stamp their name upon the age in ivhich they live." 

The speech which elicited this encomium, (in unison with the general senti- 
ment of the country,) was delivered in reply to Mr. Randolph, and in support of 
the Report of the Committee of Foreign Relations, recommending immediate 
preparations for war. I regret that I have not this speech before me, but its 
sphit pervades those which succeeded it. In the debate on the proposition to 
lay an embargo for ninety days, as a measure preparatory for war, Mr. Calhoun 
said : 

" There is no man in his reason and uninfluenced by party feelings, but must acknow- 
ledge that a declaration of war, on our part, ought almost invariably to be preceded by an 
embargo." " We will not, I hope, wait the expiration of the embargo, to take our stand 
against England — that stand which the best interests <-.nd the honor of this nation have so 
loudly demanded." " The gentleman from Virginia has told us much of the s>gnsof the 
times. I did hope that the age of superstition was past. Sir, if we must examine .he aus- 
pices, if we must inspect the entrails of the times, I woidd pVononnce the omens good.— 
It is from moral, not brute or physical omens, that we ought to judge ; and what more fa- 
vorable could we desire, than that the nation is at last roused from its lethargy, and stands 
prepared to vindicate its interest and honor. On the contrary, agnation so sunk in avarice, 
and corrupted by faction, as to be insensible to the greatest injuries, and lost o its indepen- 
dence, would be a spectacle more portentou.-. than comets, ear fhquakes r eclipses, or the 
rvhole catalogue of omens, which we have heard tin 1 gentleman from Virginia enumerate. 
I assert, and gentlemen know it, if we submit to the pretensions of England, now openly 
avowed, the independence of the nation is lost; we shall be, as to our commerce at least, 
recolonized. This is the second struggle for independence ; and if we do but justice to 
ourselves, it will be no less glorious and successful than the firs'. Lit us but exert our- 
selves, and we must meet with the prospering smile of heaven. Sir, I assert i with eon- 
jidence, a war, just and necessary in its origin, wisely and vigorously carried on, and honor- 
ably terminated, would establish the union and prosperity of our country for centuries." 

In conformity with the foregoing views, Mr. Calhoun, some time subsequent, 
presented an able report, detailing the injuries inflicted by Great Britain on our 
neutral rights, and asked leave to bring in a bill declaring war against that na- 
tion. The manifold difficulties, presented by the array of powerful talents in 
the opposition, and the hesitating half-way policv of manv republicans, were fi- 
nally overcome by the activity, energy, and zeaf of Mr. Calhoun, and the able 
co-operation of many distinguished republicans. 

After the war was declared, Mr. Calhoun, always deprecating half-way mea- 
sures, urged the repeal of the non-importation act. The speech delivered by 
him, on that occasion, so fully displays the consistent republican, and so clearly 
portrays, to use the language { not before quoted ) of Mr. Ritchie's compliment, 
v one of the old sages of the old Congress with the gracesof youth," that I must 
be excused for making a copious extract. It gives the most admirable exposi- 
tion of the restrictive system, ever published : 

" The restrictive system, as a mode of resistance, or as a means of obtaining redress, 
has never been a favorite one with me. 1 wish not to censure the motives which dictated 
it, or attribute weakness to those who first resorted to it for a restoration of our rights — 
But, sir, I object to the restrictive system ; because it does not suit the genius of the peo- 
ple, or that of our government, or the geographical characte* of our country. We are a 
people essentially active. I may say we are pre-eminently so. No passive system can 
suit such a people ; in action superior to ail others, in patient endurance inferior to many. 
Ivor does it suit the senilis of our government. — Our government is founded on freedom, 
and hates coercion. To make the restrictive system effective, requires the most arbitrary 
laws. England, with the severest penal statute's, has not be- n ab e to exclude prohibited 
articles, and Napoleon, with all his power -in<\ vigilance, was obliged to report to the most 
barbarous laws to enforce his continental. svstera.'' 





After showing how the whole mercantile community must become corrupted 
by the temptations and facilities for smuggling, and how the public opinion of 
the commercial community (upon which the system must depend for its enforce' 
ment) becomes opposed to it, and gives sanction to its violation, he proceeds : 

" But there are other objections to the system. — It renders government odious. The t.u . 
mcr inquires why he gets no more tor his produce, and he is told it is owing to the embar- 
go, or commercial restrictions. In this be sees only the hand of his own government, and 
not the acts of violence and injustice which this sy-tcni is intended to counteract. His ecu 
Mires fall on the government. This is an unhappy state of the public mind ; and even, 1 
might say, in a government resting essentially on public opinion, a dangerous one. In \\ ji 
it is different. The privation, it is true, may be equal or greater, but the public mind, m • 
der the strong impulses of that state of things, becomes steeled against sufferings. The 
difference is almost infinite, between the passive and active state of tlio mind. Tie down 
a hero, and he feels the puncture of a pin: throw him into battle, and hu is almost insen- 
sible to vital gashes. So in war. Impelled alternately by hope and fear, stimulated by re- 
venge, depressed by shame, or elevated by victory , the people become invincible. No pri • 
vation can shake their fortitude, no calamity break their spirit. Even when equally suc- 
cessful, the contrast between the two systems is striking. War and Restriction may leave 
the country equally exhausted ; but the latter not only leaves you poor, but, even when suc- 
cessful, dispinted : divided, discontented; with diminished patriotism, and the morals of a 
considerable portion of your people corrupted. Not so in war. In that state, the common 
danger unites all, strengthens the bonds of society, and feeds ;he flame of patriotism. The 
national character mounts to energy. In exchange for the expenses and privations of war, 
you obtain military and naval skiff, and a more perfect organization of such parts of your 
administration as "are connected with the science of national defence. Sir, are these ad- 
vantages to be counted as trifles, in the present state of the world ? Can they lie mea- 
sured by monied valuation? I would prefer a single victory over the enemy, by sea OF 
land, to all the' good we shall ever derive from the continuation of the non-importation act. 
I know not that a victory would produce an equal pressure on the enemy, but 1 am certain 
of what is ot' greater consequence, it would be accompanied by more salutary effects on 
ourselves. The memory of Saratoga, Princeton, and Eutaw, is immortal. It is there you 
will find the Country's boast and pride — the inexhaustible source of great and heroic sen- 
timents. But what will history say of restriction ? What examples worthy of imitation 
will it furnish to posterity ? What pride, what pleasure, will our children find in the events 
of such times ? Let me not be considered romantic. 

<; This nation ought to be taught to rely on its own courage, its fortitude, its skill and vir- 
tue, for protection. These are the only safeguards in the hour of danger. Man was endu- 
ed with these great qualities for his defence. There is nothing about him that indicates 
that he isto conquer by endurance. He is not encrusted hi a shell ; he is not taugltt to rel - 
upon his insensibility, his passive suffering, for defence. >'o, sir; it is on the invincible 
mind, on a magnanimous nature, he ought 10 rely. Here is the superiority of our kind; 
it is these that render man the lord of the world. It is the destiny of his condition, that 
nations rise' above nations, as they are endued in a greater degree with these brilliant 
qualities." 

Eloquence worthy of Demosthenes ! sentiments worthy of the best days of 
Greece and Rome ! and political reflections that would do honor to the most ex- 
perienced statesman ! If the picture had been drawn after the war, he could not 
have described its beneficial oli'ects with a nicer precision. How enviable is the 
light in which Mr. Calhoun is exhibited, when we compare these views with the 
vacillating, contradictory course of Mr. Crawford, in relation to the embargo! 

In March, 1814, soon after the first dethronement of Bonaparte, to the eye of the 
timid, our affairs assumed a gloomy and disheartening aspect. The whole power of 
our enemy, flushed with success, was about to be poured in upon 119. The oppo- 
sition, vigilant and powerful, seized upon the occasion to embarrass the govern- 
ment, and used every effort to defeat the loan bill; a measure essential to the 
finances of the country. They denounced the war as unjust and inexpedient, 
and painted the hopelessness of the unequal contest in which we were engaged. 

Mr. Calhoun replied, in a speech which no American can read without hav- 
ing his feelings raised to a pitch of" moral elevation," which it is the prerogative 
of wisdom, eloquently spoken, only to excite. 

To show the expediency of the war, he took a histoiical view of the British 
maritime usurpations, from the celebrated rule of 1756, up to the time of the dis- 
cussion ; and demonstrated, that these aggressions were not accidental or tempo- 
rary, but that they entered essentially into the system of the maritime policy of 

B 



10 

the enemy. From this luminous view of the origin, nature, and principle of the 
wrongs we suffered, he clearly showed botli the fliinsiness of t lie pretexts by which 
the enemy sought to justify, and the opposition to excuse them; and the folly of 
expecting to obtain redress, by sheathing the sword and throwing ourselves upon 
the justice of the enemy. In concluding this view of his subject, he proceeded 
as follows : 

<: This country was left alone to support the rights of neutrals. Perilous was the condi- 
tion, and arduous the task. We were not intimidated, We stood opposed to British usurp- 
ation ; and, by our spiiii and efforts, have done all in our power to save the last vestiges of 
neutral lights. Yes, our embargoes, non-intercourse, non-importat on, an I, finally, war, 
were af manly exertions to preserve the rights of this and oilier nations from the deadly 
grasp of British maritime policy. Bui, (say our opponents,) these efforts are lost, and our 
condition hopeless. If so, it only remains for us to assume the garb of our condition. W c 
must submit, humbly submit, crave pardon, and hug our chains. It is not wise to provoke, 
where we cannot resist. But first let us be well assured of the hopelessness of our state, be- 
fore we sink into submission On what do our opponents rest this despondent and slavish 
belief ? On the recent events in Europe ? I admit they are great, and well calculated to im- 
pose on the imagination. Our enemy never presented a more imposing exterior. H is '.or- 
tune is at the flood. But I am admonished, by universal experience,, that such prosperity is 
the most piecaiious of human conditions. From the flood the tide dates its ebb. From 
the meridian the sun commences his decline. Depend upon it, there is more of sound phi- 
losophy than of Action in the fick'eness which poets attribute to fortune. Prosperity has 
its weakness) adversity its strengdi. In many respects,, our enemy has lost by those very 
changes which seem so very much in his favor. He can no more claim to be struggling for 
existence ; no more to be lighting the battles of the world, in defence of the liberties of 
mankind. The magic cry of French influence is lost. In this very hall we are not stran- 
gers to that sound. Here, even here, the cry of French influence, that baseless fiction, 
thai phantom of faction, now banished, often resounded. I rejoice that the spell is brok- 
en, by which it was attempted to bind the spirit of this youthful nation. The minority can 
no longer act under cover, but must come out and defend their opposition on its own intrin- 
sic merits." " Our example can scarcely fail to produce its effects on other nations, inter- 
ested in the maintenance of maritime rights. But if. unfortunately, we should be left 
alone to maintain the contest; and if, which may God forbid, necessity should compel us 
to yield for the present, yet our generous efforts will not have been lost. A mode of think- 
ing and a tone of sentiment have gone abroad, which must stimulate to future and more 
successful struggles. What could not be effected with eight millions of people, will be 
done with twenty. The great cause will never be yielded — no,.never, never! " " Sir, I 
hear the future audibly announced in the past — in the splendid victories over the Guerrier, 
Java, and Macedonian. We, and all nations are, by these victories, taught a lesson never 
to be forgotten. Opinion is power The charm of British naval invincibility is gone." 

Such were the animating strains by which Mr. Calhoun, nearly ten years ago, 
roused his country to action amidst a complication of adverse circumstances, cal- 
culated to overwhelm the feeble, and appal the stoutest. Never faulfering, never 
doubling, never despairing of the Republic, he was at once the " stately column" 
of his party, and the beacon light of his country. 

Such is an imperfect glance at the services rendered by John C. Calhoun to his 
party, and to his country, during the most perilous struggle which that party and 
that country ever encountered ; while William H. Crawford, during the same 
period, has left upon the records of his country " no memorial." Those who are 
familiar with the history of that crisis, that "second war of independence," must 
recollect, that the downfall of the Republican party was confidently anticipated 
by the Federalists, and seriously apprehended by many Republicans. This will 
account for Mr. Crawford's cold and hesitating support of the war, and his speedy 
retreat from its responsibility and its dangers. Mr. Calhoun, on the contrary, 
believing the cause of his party to be the cause of his country, disdained to indulge 
a hope of rising upon its ruins. 

At the close of the war, such was the confidence reposed in the integrity and 
talents of Mr. Calhoun, and such his practical energy of character, that he had a 
principal agency in such legislative measures as were necessary for the organiza- 
tion of a peace establishment. 

In fixing the number of the army, Mr. Madison was understood to be in favor 
of twenty thousand; and Mr. Clay contended for at least fifteen thousand ; and 
Mr. Calhoun insisted that it ought not to be higher than ten thousand ; contend- 



11 

pig then, as he has always done since, that the great point was not to have the 
establishment large, but permanent, and well organized. {■'•• <;uent cl he 

said, destroy the spirit and zeal ofthe officers, and the organization ol py; 

defeating the very object ol the establishment. With the same general views, he 
zealously supported the militarj academy at West Point; an institution then 
struggling against powerful prejudices, but now the general favorite ofthe nation. 
It is beyo id question the cheapest and the safest mode of diffusing military science 
through the country. 

While Mr. Calhoun has always contended for maintaining our establishments, 
for national defence, upon a scale comme • >urate with our resources, and adapt- 
ed to our existing and piobable relations with the great powers ofthe earth, he has 
as uniform!} contended- for strict economy in the public disbursements, and ex- 
emplified Ins theory by his practice. 

He was the first to introduce a law depriving the executive of the power of 
transferring money from one head of appropriation to another, and make all ap- 
propriations specific. This measure he supported by a speech, in which he ably 
enforced the necessity of ihat strict accountability in public agents which, as Se- 
cretary of War, he has since introduced, with such sign I advantage to the coun- 
try. In this salutary work of reform, he was opposed by all the influence ot Wil- 
liam H. Crawford, thert Secretary of the Treasury. 

In 1816, a proposition to repeal the direct taxes gave rise to a debate on the 
state of tile Republic, involving a discussion ofthe policy of the country in time 
of peace. The speech delivered by Mr. Calhoun on that occasion, elicited a 
burst of approbation, and extorted from a member, not friend!) to the orator, this 
involuntary exclamation : " what a prodigious effort of the human mind !" The 
Editors of the Intelligencer stated, in their notice of it, that Mr. Calhoun might 
safely rest " his lame as a statesman and orator" upon that single production. I 
regret that of this speech, as of that on the loan bill, I can only give a few detach- 
ed sentences. Taken together, they contain a summary of all that can be said of 
the interests of the Republic, and the duties of the government, .in war and in 
peace. After taking a profound view of our probable relations with other pow- 
ers, and the policy which we should pursue towards them, he proceeded to con- 
sider the measures of preparation necessary for our defence : 

" Tiie navy (said he) most certainly, in ever, poinl of vi w, occupies the first place. — 
It is die most sale, most effectual, and the cheapest mode of defence We have heard 
much of die danger of standing armies to on. liberties; the objection cannot be made to 
a navy. Generals, it must be acknowledged, have of en advanced ai the bead of armies to 
imperial rank and power; but, in what instance had an admiral usurped the liberties of his 
country ? " 

" In regard to the militia, I would go as far as any man ; and considerably farther than 
those would who are so violently opposed to our small army. I know the danger ol large 
staa ling armies ; I know the militia are the true force ; that no nation ran be sale at iiouic 
and abroa I, which has not an efficient militia." 

After indicating the various defensive preparations demanded by the true and 
permanent interests ofthe country, he enforces his views by the following elo- 
quent and impressive peroration : 

" The people, 1 believe, are intelligent and virtuous. The more wisely, then, you act — 
the less you yield to the temptation of ignoble and false secui it — ihe more yon will attract 
their confidence. Already they, go far, very far, b forethi- House, in energy and public 
spirit. If ever measures of this kind become unpopular, it will be by speeches here I do 
sincerely hope that die member of this House are the real agents of the people : they arc 
sent here, not to consult their own ease and convenience, tut th< r general defence, and 
common welfare. Such is the language of the Constitution In discbarge of the sacred 
trust reposed in me by those for whom I act, I hnve faithfully pointed out those m 
which our situation and relation io the rest of the world rendei neces tti foi our security 
and lasting prosper iv. 1 know of no situation so responsible, jf properly considered, as 
ours. We are charged by Providence, not on!) with the happiness of this great 
and rising people, but, in a considerable degree, with that of the human race. We 
have a government of a new ord r. pet fectlj 1 itinr from all which havi I it. — A 

government founded on the rights of man ; resting, not on ant io ity. not on prejudice, not 
on superstition, but reason. If it shall succeed, as fondly hoped by its founders, it will be 



12 

the commencement of a new era in human affairs. All civilized governments must, in the 
course of time, conform lo its principles. Thus circumstanced, can you hesitate what 
course 10 choose ? The road hat wisdom indicates, leads, it is true, up ihe steep, but leads 
al o to security and lasting glo:y. No nation that wants the fortitude to tread it, ought 
ev' r to aspire to greatness. Such ought to sink, and will sink, into the list of those that 
have done nothing to be remembered. It is immutable; it is the nature of things. The 
love of present ease and pleasure, indifference about the future, that fatal weakness of hu- 
man nature, has never faded, in individuals or nations, to sink to disgrace and ruin. On 
the contrary, virtue and wisdom, which regard the future, which spurn the temptations of 
the moment, however rugged their path, end in happiness. Such are the universal senti- 
ments of all wise writers, from 'he didactics of the philosopher to the fictions of the poet. 
They agree and inculcate that pleasure is a flowery path, leading off among groves and gar- 
dens, but ending in a dreary wilderness — that it is the syren's voice, which he who listens 
to, is ruined — that icis the cup of Circe, of which, whoever drinks, is converted into a swine. 
This is the language of fiction — reason teaches the same. It is my wish to elevate the na- 
tional sentiment to that which animates every just and virtuous mind. No effort is needed 
here to impel us the opposite way. That may be too safely trusted to the frailties of our na- 
ture. This nation is now in a situation similar to that which one of the aiost beautiful wri- 
ters of antiquity ascribes to Hercules in his youth : he represents the hero as retiring into 
the wilderness, to deliberate on the course of life which he ought to choose. Two goddesses 
approached him, one recommending to him a life of ease and pleasure, the other of labor 
and virtue. The Hero adopted the counsel of the latter, and his fame and glory are known 
to the world. May this nation, the youthful Hercules, possessing his form and muscles, be 
animated by similar sentiments, and follow his example ! " 

I shall conclude this rapid glance at Mr. Calhoun's congressional services, by 
quoting one of his views on the great question of internal improvement, as con- 
tained iu the speech he delivered in support of his well known plan on that sub- 
ject: 

" But when we come to consider," said he, " how intimately the strength and prosperity 
of the Republic are connected with this subject, we find the most urgent reasons why we 
should apply our resources to the construction of roads and canals. In many respects, no 
country, of equal population and wealth, possesses equal materials for power with ours. 
The people, in muscular vigor, in hardy and enterprizing habits, and in a lofty and ga.lant 
courage, are surpassed by none. In one respect, and, in my opinion, in one only, we are 
materially weak. We occupy a surface prodigiously great in proportion to our numbers. 
The common strength is brought, with difficulty, to bear upon the point that may be me- 
naced by an enemy." " Good roads and canals, judiciously laid out, are the proper reme- 
dy. In the recent war, how much did we suffer for the want of them ! Besides the tardi- 
ness and consequent inefficiency of our militarv movements, to what increased expense 
was the country put, for the article of transportation alone ! In the event of another war, 
the saving, in this particular, would go far towards indemnifying us for the expenses of. 
constructing the means of transportation." 

After explaining the importance of roads and canals in the fiscal operations 
of the government, and in restoring the equilibrium of the currency, disturbed 
by disbursing the revenue at the seat of war, he proceeds : 

" But on this subject of national power, what can be more important than a perfect unity, 
in every part, of feelings and interests ? And what can tend more powerfully to produce 
it, than overcoming the effects of distance ? No people, enjoying freedom, ever occupied 
any thing like so great an extent of country as this Republic. One hundred years ago, the 
most profound philosophers did not believe it even possible. They did not suppose that a 
pure Republic could exist on so great a scale as even the island of Great Britain. What 
was then considered chimerical, we now have the felicity to enjoy; and, what is most re- 
markable, such is the happy mould of our government, so well are the state and general 
powers blended, that much of our political happiness draws its origin from the extent of 
our Republic. It has exempted us from most of the causes which distracted the small Re- 
publics of antiquity : let it not, however, be forgotten ; let it forever be kept in mind, that it 
exposes us to the greatest of all calamities, next to the loss of liberty, and even to that in 
its consequences — disunion. We are great, and rapidly, I was about to say fearfully, grow- 
ing. This is our pride and our danger ; our weakness and our strength. Little, (said he.) 
does he deserve to be entrusted with the destinies of this people, who does not raise his 
mind to these truths. We are under the most imperious obligations to counteract every 
tendency to disunion. The strongest of all cements is, undoubtedly, the wisdom, justice, 
and, above all, the moderation of this house: yet the great subject, on which we are now 
deliberating, in this respect deserves the most serious consideration. Whatever impedes 
?&e intercourse of the extremes with this, the centre of the Republic, weakens the Uuioa. 



13 

The more enlarged the sphere of commercial circulation ; the more extended that of social 
intercourse < tlu: more s.truunlv arc we bound together, the more inseparable our destine s 
Those who understand the human heart, know how powerfully distance tends to break the 
sympathies of our nature. Nothing, not even dissimilarity of language, tends more to es- 
t range man from man. Let us then, (said he,) bind the Republic together, with a perfect 
system of roads and canals. Let us conquer space." — " Blessed with a form of govern- 
ment, at once combining liberty and strength, we may reasonably raise our eyes to a most 
splendid future, if we only act in a manner worthy of our advantages. If, however, neglect- 
ing them, we permit a low, sordid, selfish, sectional spirit to take possession of thia bouse, 
this happy scene will vanish. We shall divide, and, as consequences, will follow mi cry 
and despotism." 

In the spirit of these enlightened and patriotic views, Mr. Calhoun, since he 
has been Secretary of War, presented to the House of Representatives, in obe- 
dience to a resolution ol'that body, a luminous report on the same subject. The 
resolution of the House equally extended to Mr. Crawford, as Secretary of the 
Treasury. He has never yet complied with the call, though four years have 
elapsed. The question has been repeatedly asked, why has Mr. Crawford contu- 
maciously stood mute, in defiance of the authority of Congress? Neither he nor 
his friends have condescended to answer it. I, then, will do them that piece of 
justice, which modesty, no doubt, forbids them to do themselves. Knowing that 
the Virginia (or rather the Richmond) politicians were opposed to internal im- 
provements, made by the national government, and that the rest of the- Union en- 
tertained opposite views on the subject, Mr. Crawford hoped, that by holding 
himself uncommitted, he might please all parties. Indeed, he is supported, in 
Virginia, distinctly upon the ground of his opposition to internal improvements, 
of which, I suppose, he has given a secret pledge. 

As Secretary of the Department of War, of which he took charge in Decem- 
ber, 1017, the services of Mr. Calhoun have not been less important, though 
much less striking to the general public, than those he rendered in Congress. — 
Mr. Crawford, his predecessor, had left the Department in the utmost, confusion, 
having made no single effort to correct the abuses, the extravagance, and the 
waste, which had crept into the system during the war. By a new organization, 
grand in its results, but, like all the improvements of genius, simple in its princi- 
ples and machinery, every abuse has been corrected, and the utmost economy 
substituted in the place of wasteful extravagance. All the subordinate agents 
of the disbursing departments are responsible for all the public money, or pub- 
lic property, which passes through their hands, to an administrative head at the 
seat of government, who sanctions their accounts only for expenses actually and 
properly made; whereas, before the new organization, these accounts were sub- 
mitted directly to the Auditors, who sanctioned and passed them, of course, on 
the production of vouchers for the actual expenditure, without any inquiry into 
its propriety. 

One of the most important branches of the system which I have thus generally 
characterized, is the commissariat ; by means of which, the army is supplied 
with provisions by commissaries, subject to military responsibility, and under the 
control of a head at the seat of government. By this improvement, the manifold 
impositions, formerly practised by contractors, have been effectually avoided : 
the army is uniformly supplied with good rations; military operations are no 
longer liable to be defeated, by the default of persons not subject to military rules ; 
and the expense of the supplies has been reduced to a degree that will hardly be 
credited. This great improvement, which Mr. Calhoun first proposed in Con- 
gress during the late war, and finally and effectually recommended, in an able 
report as Secretary of War, was opposed by Mr. Crawford, Secretary of the 
Treasury, who volunteered and obtruded his out-door exertions, to save the na- 
tion from the " splendid and visionary projects" of "young Mr. Calhoun." The 
result of this new organization of the administrative branches of the Staff, part 
of which Mr. Crawford thus opposed, and part of which his radical friends in 
Congress attempted to destroy, has been an aggregate annual saving, in the mili- 
tary expenditure, (with an increased efficiency of the army,) of a muchlarget 



14 

sum than has been saved by all the quackery of radical amputation, for me la~. r 
five years. By official documents, submitted to Congress, it is demonstrated 
that the reduction of the annual expenditure for the support of the army proper, 
effected by Mr. Calhoun's superior administration, and independent of the re- 
duction of the numbers of the army, amounts in the aggregate to the sum of one 
million three hundred and forty-nine thousand two hundred and eighteen dollars. 
Or, to express the same result in a different form, the annual cost of each indivi- 
dual (officers and soldiers being reduced to a common average) has been reduc- 
ed from four hundred and fifty-one dollars fifty-seven cents, to two hundred and 
eighty-seven dollars and two cents. 

Such is the economy of the man whom the radicals, waging war against truth 
itself, have charged with extravagance; and such is the contrast between enlight- 
ened and practical views, carried into effect with systematic and laborious exer- 
tions, and perpetual clamors about retrenchment, either ending in words, or ac- 
companied by unskilful attempts at reform, tending to produce disorganization. 

The same principle of organization which exists in the disbursing departments, 
has been extended to every branch of the general staff of the army. By means 
of the judicious division of labor, and a connected system of responsibility, cen- 
tering in the Secretary of War, the utmost efficiency has been given to the army 
in its operations. It is admitted, by the most intelligent, if not all of the officers 
of the army, that the organization of the Staff is superior to that of any army in 
the world ; essentially differing from the French, and decidedly better adapted to 
the geographical and political character of our country. 

In the Military Academy at West Point, Mr. Calhoun has introduced such 
striking improvements, that, from being unpopular, it has become the admiration 
of every visiter, the general favorite of the nation, and, by general consent, infe- 
rior to no similar institution in Europe. Such is its inflexible discipline, and 
such the success with which the principle of honor is made subservient to that 
discipline, that a young man cannot graduate without first-rate acquirements and 
exemplary moral habits. The change already produced in the character of the 
army, by this and other co-operating and dependent causes, is striking, and must 
increase. Drunkenness and gambling are now unknown in the army. No class 
of citizens is more moral in its habits, than the officers. 

But we cannot realize the full benefits of Mr. Calhoun's labors in the War 
Department, until we consider the effect of his improvements in the event of 
war. Suppose, for example, the projects of the Holy Alliance should render it 
necessary that we should defend our domestic altars, the tombs of our fathers, 
and our general liberty, against the myrmidons of despotism, what would be the 
military capacity of the country, derived from the peace establishment? Owing 
to the present organization, connected with the West-Point Academy, we could 
have, in six months, a regular army of thirty thousand men in the field, per- 
fectly organized in all its branches, and commanded by officers at least equal to 
those of any peace establishment in Europe. Thus, by the expense of six thou- 
sand men, so organized and officered as to be capable of a prompt enlargement, 
we have the military capacity, the defensive power, of thirty. But this is not all. 
Our extensive coast has been surveyed by skilful and scientific engineers ; a sys- 
tem of fortifications, wisely projected, is rapidly progressing; and a minute know- 
ledge of the topography of our whole line of exposed frontier, will enable the 
head of the department, by a glance at the maps in the office of the topographical 
engineer, to determine, as to each point of attack, how vulnerable and how defen- 
sible it may be. With a peace establishment but very little more expensive than 
that which existed previous to the late war, we are half a century advanced in 
military power. These are the results of wisdom and genius, profiting by the 
lessons of experience. 

From this brief and imperfect summary of Mr. Calhoun's political services, I 
think every one will admit, that he has fully realized the prediction of Mr. Rit- 
chie, made twelve years ago, that " he is one of those master spirits ,who stamr: 



\:> 

I hi iv name upon the age in which they live." Where now is William II. Craw- 
ford ? Dwindled into a pigmy hy the side of a giant. While in Mr. Calhoun 
we have seen the undeviatiug republican, sustaining the cause of his party with 
unrivalled ability "through evil as well as through good report," and coming out 
of every conflict " without a blot upon his escutcheon," we behold Mr. Crawford 
literally " floating upon the surface of the times," a sort of soldier of fortune in 
politics, prepared to light under any standard which promised success to his am- 
bitious aspirings. While Mr. Calhoun's political course is covered with monu- 
ments of wisdom, and firmness, and patriotism, we see, in Mr. Crawford's, a bar- 
ren wash', disfigured by a few miserable wrecks of inchoate conceptions and vi- 
sionary projects. While Mr. Calhoun, in every department of our government, 
has exhibited unequivocal evidence of talents of the first order, Mr. Crawford has 
been obliged to draw upon the ingenuity of his friends to prove, and the faith of 
the public to believe, that "he therefore should be counted wise fordoing nothing." 
While Mr. Calhoun, in the War Department, has saved, annually, millions of 
the public money, and displayed talents for administration not surpassed by any 
American statesman, living or dead, Mi. Crawford has distinguished his admin- 
istration of the Treasury Department, by misjudging views and disreputable 
blunders, and by losing nearly a million of the public money, according to liis 
own showing, by making deposits in insolvent banks, contrary to law. Does his- 
tory furnish a stronger contrast between two men who have reached the sun.; 
point of political elevation, in a government where talents, principles, and ser- 
vices, are the only legitimate passports to promotion? 

Intelligent and patriotic citizens of North-Carolina! can you hesitate in your 
choice? If Virginia, having honestly "indulged the wish that Mr. Calhoun 
were a Virginian," now rejects him because he is not, and supports a native, 
whose place of nativity, disguise it as she may, is his only recommendation, will 
you not, preferring her noble sentiments in 1811, to the selfish practice of her 
ruling politicians in 18-J3,-- participate, as Americans and friends of your country, 
in the honors of South-Carolina ?" 

Let Mr. Crawford's partizans no longer have it in their power to sav, that hav- 
ing " secured" Virginia, (such is their phraseology,) Not th-Carolina follows as a 
matter of course. Let the two Carolinas, connected by common interests and 
common sympathies, as well as by a common name, unite in the zealous support 
of John C. Calhoun, whose spotless purity of chaiacter, enlightened views as a 
statesman, and past devotion to the honor and the interests of the Republic, are 
his indefeasible titles to public confidence, and the ample guaranties of his future 
usefulness. 

.Yovrmbcr, 1823. CAROLINA. 



8® 






c°* .Ci»£. *°o 








<*, *••*• ^ 




V . * * 



I". ^ ^ ^ 



v^ 



^0^ 



.• 5> 



.4 <^ 







vV 




°o 



















A°« 



° «,**V •US' a v ^ : MiiP° c^ •-, 




o. 'o , » * A <. *^Tvr» ,G V \3, 'o . » * A <. ** , 










'o-. » * a ^ ♦rrrr* g* ^, -» « 














^o 



r 



















'by 



» **, 



)PvS 






v* 



<?V c* •rfhllfA . ^ a^ ♦SIS- *k & •* 





<> *<T7V ,G* 




°^. * • . 






.v * 



o . » * A 




^0* 



^ •' 
















W 















'^-V^. 






?*- *p — r^* 




% 






aH 




i 



: 



